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FAQ's UNDERSTANDING PREEMIE DEVELOPMENT WHY DOES MY BABY NOT ACT LIKE A FULL-TERM BABY? There are 5 areas of development 1. Physiological(things thathappen automatically) -breathing,heartrate,color changes, digestion, bowel-movements) 2. Motor( muscle tone, movements) 3. States of Consciousness (levels of sleep and being awake and changes from one to the other 4. Attention( The ability to focus , turn to sounds, look at faces, to interact with people 5. Self-regulation( The ability to calm down by sucking on hands ect. Because the nervous systems (brains) of Preemies are not as mature as those of full term babies Development in these areas are not as far along as full-term babies, however they will catch Up in time. HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BABY IS IMMATURE IN HIS/HER MOTOR DEVELOPMENT? The baby may be limp, the baby may not be able to stay curled up, the baby may twitch, or may be Stiff or may tremble HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BABY IS IMMATURE IN CONTROL OVER STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: The baby can't become alert or stay awake for long and is generally fussy HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BABY IS IMMATURE IN DEVELOPMENT OF ATTENTION: The baby is if he/she can't focus on you or becomes worn out trying to respond to you. HOW CAN I TELL IF MY BABY IS IMMATURE IN SELF-REGULATION: If the baby has a hard time calming down after being disturbed, has trouble handling several kinds of things Going on at the same time. CAN MY BABY HEAR ME? Hearing is usually well developed by 20 weeks gestational age. By 25 to 28 weeks gestational age the preemie will respond in different ways to different sounds for example he/she will pay more attention to voices than other sounds. The baby will show dislike (frown or startle) At loud noises. The baby can pick out the mother's voice and prefers it over other voices As he/she has heard it in the womb. They can hear sounds with low and medium pitches better Than high pitched sounds. WHAT CAN MY PREMATURE BABY SEE? Seeing takes longer to mature than hearing and touch but will progress Rapidly between weeks 22 &34 weeks of gestational age. At first Preemies do not focus on anything while they have very brief periods Of time with their eyes open. By 30 weeks gestational age the preemies Will respond in different ways to different sights: *In bright light they will blink or shut their eyes *In soft light they will keep their eyes open & focus on objects *Although they can't yet control the movement of their heads they can scan the objects with their eyes. *They are near sighted. They can see best when an object is no more than 8 to 10 inches away from their faces. *Preemies take longer to focus on an object than do full-term infants, and their vision is not as clear as either full-term infants or adults